Damn It All
by Harry Popper's Penguins
Summary: Armin is not having a good day. All he needs now is for Eren to make a fool out of himself and possibly land them all in trouble. What the fuck, Eren.


Hey this is the first thing I've written for SnK, and the first time I've written anything for my own amusement in over a year. So, it's a short drabble but... enjoy.

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"YOU THINK I GIVE TWO SHITS!?" came the roaring reply of Instructor Shadis. The unfortunate recipient of this outburst was none other than Eren Jaeger. The 104th training squad was currently walking out of the stables, brushing off hay and dust. Armin sighed, knowing full well that Eren wasn't going to keep quiet.

"It shouldn't MATTER, sir!", Eren predictably yelled back, his hands balling into fists. "I was sick for two days, I had no way of knowing-!"

"That's no excuse, JAEGER! It is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to know what goes on even when you are physically unable to participate is that _CLEAR_?"

Armin didn't even listen to Eren's reply, instead threading his fingers through his bangs and massaging his eyes with his palms. He was already not in a good mood today. The horse saddling exam (incidentally, the same activity that Eren and Shadis were currently arguing about) had been a nightmare.

No pun intended.

He had hardly gotten any sleep the night before, at the fault of not two, not three, but _four_ other trainees in need of assistance on some homework. Armin, as exhausted as he was from that day's run, still couldn't find it in himself to say no. The blonde had woken up cranky and pissed- a rare occurrence that left Armin easily annoyed and snappy. His head was jumbled and his eyes droopy by the time of said horse exam, and he was surprised he was able to lift the cargo onto the horse at all. He was sure he took twice as long as necessary, and probably executed it wrong too. Another failing grade, simple as that. Not as though he was behind in every other physical activity too, right?

Needless to say, Armin was having a bad day. The blonde glanced to his left, and glowered at Eren, who didn't notice.

"He's going to get in trouble." Mikasa had at some point moved to stand beside Armin.

"I know." Armin was still glaring.

"...Should I..?"

"No, Mikasa, you'll just get in trouble too. Your grades are too good to risk that."

"My grades don't really matter if the situation concerns Eren."

They both looked to Eren, who was near popping a vein by now. He needed to just shut up and accept that though his situation was unfair, he was only making their instructor angrier. How could he be so stupid? At this rate, he'll get kicked off the squad and sent back to the fields, dragging Mikasa and himself along with his shattered ambitions. Mikasa maybe could care less, but Armin had made friends here, and found a purpose. Maybe he wasn't very good in training, but he felt like he was in the right place to make a difference. His intelligence could get him somewhere, right? He had no intention of going back to the fields, and damn it all if Eren was going to blow all three of their chances at becoming full soldiers. Damn it all.

Armin snapped.

It only took three long strides to get to where Shadis and Eren were standing. The sound cracked and echoed, leaving silence in its wake. Whatever Eren had been yelling was cut off, and he stared at Armin in shock and brought his hand to his cheek.

"Did you just... _slap_ me..?"

Armin glared at The brunette and exhaled slowly.

"Apologize to the instructor, Eren."

"Bu-"

"_Now_."

No one was talking. He didn't look, but the slender boy could feel everyone's stares. Even Shadis had turned his head at him, eyes wide.

"This has nothing to do with you, Armin. I'm trying to point out that-OWW!"

Armin had grabbed Eren's earlobe and twisted it, causing the green-eyed boy to crouch over and claw at the air. The blonde inwardly smirked. A little trick he'd learned from Eren's mom.

"You want to get kicked out, Eren? Really? After all this?" Armin's voice was somehow calm, even though somewhere in the back of his mind, he was scared out of his wits. In any other situation, he'd never do this. Eren just pissed him off on a pissy day after a pissy test, and the blue-eyed trainee was pissed.

"I- ahhow ow ow OWW Armin stop!"

Armin didn't stop.

"I'm eh, sorry about Eren, sir." Armin looked up at Instructor Shadis, not taking his hand off of the brunette's ear. "He's still a little sick from before, and that's why he's lashing out, please excuse his actions, sir..." He tried to smile, and found that he had to strain. Eren flailed next to him.

"I'm NO-"

Armin twisted harder, still smiling at the instructor.

Eren squealed loudly until he was just whining and scrabbling at the blonde's hand. Ten seconds passed.

"I..." Eren winced. "I'm sorry, sir." Shadis nodded.

"That's what I like to hear." The instructor gave Armin a strange look, then walked away. The blonde pinched the bridge of his nose, and let go of Eren, who unceremoniously dropped to the ground, clutching his ear and moaning.

"Fuck you, man..." The brunette muttered, but gulped a moment later when Armin spun around to glare at him.

The blue-eyed boy flipped his best friend the bird, then walked briskly towards the mess hall.

Behind him, Mikasa helped Eren up; Sasha, Connie, and Christa covered their mouths to stifle giggles; Jean and Marco stood in shock; Reiner wiped a nosebleed; and Bertholdt, Ymir, and Annie quietly acknowledged a newfound respect for their blonde comrade.

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I'm actually working on a much longer SnK fic right now- it's a bit on the Armin/Reiner side, if you're into that. I don't know when I'll actually start posting that, but I've been working on it a little every day, so. Until then... I have this. I hope this amused you as much as it amused me writing it. Did I also mention that I wrote this on my phone in class?


End file.
